Win Two Invitations to Chipotle’s Pre-Opening Event in Shreveport

Word began to circulate on Monday that Chipotle Mexican Grill’s first Shreveport location will open for business on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The restaurant, which is located at 7030 Youree Drive in the University Place shopping center, will be open daily, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Chipotle is a chain – and an incredibly popular one at that – but they’ve always impressed me with their commitment to serving locally sourced produce. In 2014, the company’s goal is to serve more than 15 million pounds of produce grown within 350 miles of the restaurant where it’s served. That’s incredible.

A still from Chipotle’s The Scarecrow, a short film and game animated by Moonbot Studios in Shreveport.

Chipotle has another fun connection to the Shreveport-Bossier community. Their award-winning game and animated short film from 2013, both called The Scarecrow, were created in partnership with Shreveport’s ownMoonbot Studios. The animated short, which recently won the covetedAnnie Award (the animation industry’s equivalent of an Academy Award), has been viewed on Youtube an astonishing 12 million times as I write this blog post. You cansee the film here.

I say that to say this: We proudly, loudly celebrate local things on 20×49.com. Chipotle’s a chain restaurant, absolutely. But they’re buying lots of produce from local farmers, and they’ve spent goodness knows how much money to have a Shreveport-based company create The Scarecrow. Those reasons are enough cause for us to celebrate their opening.Also: cilantro rice.

If you’re excited about Chipotle Mexican Grill opening in Shreveport and would like a rare opportunity to eat there before the public can, send an e-mail to cjay@sbctb.org with the subject line “Burriteaux.” We’ll pick one winner at random to receive two passes to a pre-opening event being hosted at the Shreveport restaurant before it opens to the public. We’ll draw and notify a winner at 12 Noon on Friday, Feb. 7.